Interesting (to say the least) few days here.
I've been selecting a short list of possible used replacement trucks for the RAM 2500 I bought, then totaled back in January. Narrowed my search down to Tundras, and further down to Generation one and Gen two (just due to cost). Found three likely candidates and eventually ran three thru a mechanic highly recommended by my truck-buddy guru. $250 a pop for a deep dive pre-purchase inspection each time.
Had it down to just two, and then, suddenly that third one popped up one early morning. I re-juggled the whole day to have it looked over. Fantastic truck on paper and in person. Until the mechs looked it over underneath. They said $10K to get it straightened out. Yeesh.
On PAPER this was a nearly perfect truck. Carfax 11 pages long, 71 entries and every known issue with the truck dealt with well in advance.
So I ran it up for that third PPI almost on the fly. Borrowed a loaner vehicle from the mechanics for a few hours....and now the whole thing goes downhill.
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On the way back (driving the loaner vehicle to pick up the target truck after inspection) I ran into a "poorly marked (?) construction zone. Poorly marked? No, not marked at all. Two lanes of cars going thru a green arrow suddenly have to funnel into one at the exit of the turn, because the outer lane is completely blocked off. No blend line of cones, no "right lane closed ahead," not even a "Road Work Ahead" sign. Zero-zip-Nada until both lanes arrived on the scene (the line of cones) to find one blocked off almost literally straight across.
General panic ensued, two lanes into one with ZERO warning, and in the end the loaner vehicle I was driving came off the worst. A minor bumper tap with the car ahead probably totaled the loaner car.
And when I say minor I really mean it. The SUV I bumped (2-3 mph) had a bike rack hanging off the back, and when the owner and I looked it over he said "the paint (on [my] bike rack) isn't even scratched." We both agreed: Not a hint of damage to him...but the front bumper came off the loaner car I was driving (an old Honda Accord) and to repair it--at modern body shop prices--effectively totals the car. Utterly ridiculous, as all that happened was that the {soft flex) front bumper popped upward under the low impact, and all the clips came undone. Meh.
More follows. Roll your eyes and move off if it gets boring. I won't be offended.
I couldn't wait to play the replay this morning. I would have liked to see the Nationals win, but - I love a pitcher's duel!
